The Dam Busters

During a clear night on 16 May 1943, a squadron of 19 Lancaster bombers set off from RAF Scampton to attack the dams of Germany’s Ruhr valley in Operation Chastise or what would later become known as the ’Dam Busters’ mission.

A documentary recreating the operation was recently aired on Channel 4. The team attempted to construct a replica of the bomb developed by Barnes Wallis, assistant chief designer at Vickers-Armstrongs, that would bounce on water and explode at exactly the right depth to destroy its target.

In 1943, The Engineer reported on the outcome: ’It has since been announced that the dams were attacked with 1,500lb mines, picked Lancaster crews being specially trained for the work. In the Ruhr basin two dams in the Möhne and Sorpe reservoirs were breached, while the Eder Valley dam was broken down in two places.’

“The dams were attacked by the Lancasters with 1,500lb mines”